Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M
Karunanidhi on Friday sought the Centre`s intervention in securing
the release of 43 fishermen who were lodged in a prison in
Qatar.
In letters to External Affairs Minister S M Krishna and
Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi, he said the
fishermen had gone to Saudi Arabia and Bahrain for work and
were arrested by Qatari authorities "for having inadvertently
entered" their waters.
"I shall be grateful if you provide necessary legal
assistance to the imprisoned fishermen and take up the issue
with the Government of Qatar for immediate release of these
innocent fishermen from Tamil Nadu on humanitarian grounds,"
he said.
In a copy of the letter released to the media here,
Karunanidhi said the state government had already taken up the
matter with the Indian Embassy at Doha, Qatar.
PTI
